Erkan's field diary

It's not so cut and dried, not so black and white. You can't divide the country into "nationalist" and "not nationalist" camps.. and base your division on whether or not one declares themself a "Hrant Dink/Armenian sympathiser". Does the assertion that this issue has been blown way out of proportion, or that there is a double standard between the murder of Turks and non-Turks, correctly depict one as a nationalist? If you didn't know me better, I'd have to say 'no'.. but when did "nationalist" become such a dirty word? I didn't get the memo.. If one isn't a nationalist on some level, then what are they?

It is certainly not black and white yet you would need to use a title just the negative slogan you criticize.

I assume you are under the pressure of Armenian diaspora propaganda there in the US but there is a different story going on in Turkey. I understand there is rather a naïve take of nationalism among the diaspora Turks but “nationalism” is not an innocent ideology at all and you don’t need to act in a binary oppositional mode. That is, if one is not nationalist that does not mean s/he hates the nationality s/he belongs to.

Dear Murat you still not get it maybe because of contextual reasons. I don’t see any overload here. Even as a metaphor, puking because of this supposed “overload” is not defensible. It makes you just reactionary.
An atmosphere of solidarity was quickly overwhelmed by “nationalist” reaction here. It is already discussed: to shout as “We are all Armenians” does not mean to despise Turkishness. Maybe there are some people among those who really use that slogan as a pretext for his/her hatred against Turks but I know most of the organizers or attendants to the Hrant Dink funeral and trial. They are honest and good Turkish citizens.

Finally, it is a great insult to us to imply that we, who promote the Dink case, do not care for those Turkish citizens killed.

Erkan: "It is already discussed: to shout as “We are all Armenians” does not mean to despise Turkishness."

The "reverse" is also true.. To shout "I am not Armenian" does not mean I despise Armenians! To say "I am not Hrant Dink" does not mean I am a raving Turkish nationalist, either.
I do not strive to be "politically correct", if such a thing exists in Turkey. From where I stand, it all appears to be a big collective "woe is me" on the part of Armenians. Some of the Turks who participate in this campaign, might do so out of sympathy, shame, self-hate. Apparently it's quite easy to avoid "guilt by association" along with the above three afflictions. Just repeat the lines: "We are all Armenian. We are all Hrant Dink."
Chicken Soup For The Soul...
Lest we forget, I was the one who spent four hours of his life translating the "Water Finds It's Crack" video of Hrant Dink, into English. In the process, I fell in love with the man and his words. Hopefully it's pretty clear that my heart's in the right place, no matter what naive words I say.

Murat, I am with Erkan on this one!

Erkan, "I assume you are under the pressure of Armenian diaspora propaganda there in the US but there is a different story going on in Turkey. I understand there is rather a naïve take of nationalism among the diaspora Turks."

Au Contraire!

I, personally, am not nor have I ever been a cause celeb for nationalism anywhere. And I do not think it's fair to assume that Murat is the representative of the Turkish "diaspora" or the victim of "propaganda" in the U.S.

So I may take offense with that type of generalization, if I didn't know any better!

I just want to win some bike races.
Sucks to all this other crap.
Let's see if the "Borat" of the Tour de France peloton (Alexandre Vinokourov) can deliver the goods and win the title this year.